Sticking to The Main Thing: Better Ingredients, Better Pizza

In a recent interview with Success Magazine (click here to read the article), John Schnatter, founder and CEO of the pizza giant Papa John’s, was quoted as saying “Everything we do, we try to do it just a little bit better, and that costs money. We’re willing to pay up. I bet, on average, our competitors can make a pizza for 2 bucks. That same pizza will cost us $3-plus. But that extra dollar is the thing that makes Papa John’s different, and we think the consumer can tell the difference.”

Papa John’s isn’t in a price race to the bottom either. Rather they are in a race to deliver taste and quality, hence their slogan “better ingredients, better pizza.” And the results speak for themselves as Papa John’s consistently finds itself atop the American Consumer Satisfaction Index among national pizza chains.

Sure Papa John’s may spend millions on advertising and deals with the NFL, however they never lose sight of the fact that it is all about making a good pizza. Papa John’s core values even read as such, “We must keep The Main Thing, The Main Thing. We will consistently deliver a traditional Papa John’s superior-quality pizza.” Good quality pizza continues to be their main thing and they keep laser like focus on it.

While their competitors may push to make their pizza as cheap as possible, Papa John’s realizes that advertising can’t cure bad customer service or a pizza that just doesn’t taste as good. By investing in a better pizza and in better people (P.A.P.A. – People Are Priority Always), Papa John’s wins with its finished product. This customer experience alone is more powerful than all their marketing campaigns combined.

Sell Like Groupon

With internet users receiving an average of over 100 emails a day, it is no wonder that so many people are adverse to email advertisements. Advertisements occupy a majority of the emails we receive on a daily basis and even the messages we opt in for and ask to be sent, start to seem like spam after awhile.

Groupon, a deal of the day website, has amazingly been able to flood subscriber inboxes on a daily basis with advertisements that do not come across as spam. When you receive a Groupon, you don't have a clue of what the offer is but the surprise and anticipation associated with the potential discount peeks your daily interest. The reason their offerings are so much more effective than traditional forms of advertisements is that Groupon is in the business of selling ideas. Today the idea might be a deal for a new restaurant that you've never tried while tomorrow it could be for a free additional thirty minutes with the purchase of a massage. Eventually though, one of those ideas is bound to catch your attention and that makes the entire experience worth it.

The idea of the Groupon approach works because over time, it eventually pairs the perfect idea for a particular customer. That idea creates an easy, low risk way for customers to test a business and find out if they are better than the alternatives. It is then up to the business to create a great experience. You have to get them in the door first to have this chance though.

Marketers and sales reps should take this same approach. Stop speaking to your clients about all the potential benefits of your services. Start offering them ideas instead. By advertising, you're hoping to create enough brand recognition that maybe they'll consider you but ads don't promote experiences, ideas do. An idea could be anything from a unique sample of your work to a case study for how you recently helped a client. Whatever your ideas may be though, frequently touching them with fresh new ideas is paramount to the Groupon sales approach.

Just like Groupon, if you offer prospects 50 different ideas, it only take one of those ideas to make them a customer. With this approach, prospects won't feel like you're always trying to sell them something that they might already have or that they don't perceive they need. Instead you are creating a buying atmosphere, one that gives them unique ideas for how they could potentially use your services. They will then perceive your message as hassle free but they won't shut you out from the opportunity to share ideas with them. In essence you are never rejected, only tabled for later when the idea finally arrives that connects them to your business.

Seek Out Bartenders

Photo From Flickr by Lee Coursey

Recently I was listening to a music producer give a speech on the current economic climate of the music industry and they said something that really got me thinking about customer service in restaurants. They said that in Nashville, if you work in the music business, you should always leave good tips for your waiters. The reasoning? Behind every one of them, there is an aspiring country music star. That same waiter might walk in your music studio tomorrow.

Whatever the city you live in, can't you make a similar statement about restaurant waiters? In Los Angeles or New York City they are aspiring actors while in Seattle or Chicago they may be writers. The point is that in most places you go, the job of waiter is merely a stepping stone to something greater. If you want great restaurant service then, should you really have a waiter serve you?

When given a choice, I prefer the service level of a bartender rather than a waiter. Most people think of the idea of sitting at the bar to eat and drink as a less romantic place reserved for lushes. Contrary to popular belief, I personally find the setting of a bar extremely intimate as there isn't a table between me and the person I'm with. The service is usually significantly better as well. This isn't an accident or random chance occurrence.

A bartender is there because they trained to be there and want to be there. A waiter is there only for a check.

A bartender wants you to stay as long as you like (within reason). A waiter wants to get you in and out as quickly as possible.

A bartenders lets you establish a tab or credit all based on nothing more than trust. A waiter says pay now.

A bartender is a great listener - think of all the stories they hear? A waiter only listens to the sounds of what you are going to buy.

A bartender actually makes what he sells you. A waiter is merely an order taker.

In every service business there are people who mimic bartenders and then there are those that are nothing more than waiters. If you want great service, enlist the work of people who actually make things and are there because they want to be there. Instead of living with just average service, seek out the bartenders.